"No One's Going to Believe I Met Two Americans Today!"

We met this gentleman, Bapa Johken, while snowboarding from a backcountry yurt in the Terskey Ala-Too range of the Tien Shan mountains. We passed him on the trail and stopped to say "hello." He was with his donkey, which was towing a sled full of firewood. Upon seeing two guys on snowboards riding into his village, a remote enclave in eastern Kyrgyzstan called Ichkey-Jergez, he exclaimed, "You have to take a picture with me, because no one's going to believe I met two Americans today!" This photo was the result. Later, I printed a copy of the picture and arranged for it to be delivered to his house. Photo: Ryan Koupal, www.40tribesbackcountry.com